Derrick Rose Is Back. Here Are The Other 14 Best NBA Comebacks Ever

Not every NBA career goes exactly as planned. Everybody enters the league planning to be a Hall of Famer, but obviously that isn’t going to happen; the best outcome a player can hope for is a long, healthy career, but that too is a rare feat. Indeed, it’s often injuries that irreparably damage serious talent or bring a career to an end entirely.

That has been the fear with 2011 NBA MVP Derrick Rose, who this summer has looked fantastic as he looks to return to full strength following two major knee injuries that have limited him to just 10 games over the last two seasons. His USA Basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski has said that Rose looks “exceptional in every way” and “elite,” a good sign that the Bulls will soon reap the rewards of having one of their stars back on the floor full time.

The precedent is there for Rose to continue to perform at a top level even though he’s had some setbacks early in his career. History indicates that, especially if it happens when the player is young, a major injury does not spell doom for an NBA career. It’s entirely possible to return to an All-Star level, or in some cases G.O.A.T. level. As Rose continues to improve and look like the D-Rose of old, here are The Biggest NBA Career Comebacks.

Despite tearing his ACL in 2001 and missing the bulk of the 2002 season, Jamal Crawford continued to improve every year even after leaving the Bulls and has molded himself into one of the deadliest bench scorers in the NBA. While he has never been an All-Star, Crawford has twice won the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year Award (in 2010 and 2014), averaging between 14 and 21 points per game every single year since 2004.

Even His Airness Michael Jordan had a serious injury scare, breaking his foot early in his second season in the league. Returning for the final 15 games of the regular season, MJ responded in the most Jordan way possible when they were matched up with an historically-great Celtics team in the playoffs: he scored 49, then 63 points in the first two games of the series. He returned to form the following season, never again having another major injury problem and going on to have what some might call a pretty solid career.

Given the load he had to carry in New Orleans, Chris Paul’s torn meniscus in February of 2010 was a very serious problem for all parties involved. He played just 45 games that season, and the normally explosive guard looked a step slow on both ends of the floor. However, since joining the Clippers for the 2011-12 season he has returned to being the Paul of old, averaging nearly 20 points and double-digit assists per game. He’s even ditched the huge knee brace he was wearing, visual confirmation that he isn’t slowing down any time soon.

In a twisted way, Baron Davis’ career had a very clean arch to it as it both began and ended with serious knee injuries. During his freshman season at UCLA, he landed awkwardly coming down from a dunk during the NCAA tournament and tore his ACL, a serious concern for both Davis and the Bruins given Davis’ dependence on his speed and quickness. He managed to come back better than ever the following year, though, and declared for the NBA Draft following his sophomore season. He went on to enjoy a very good NBA career, one that was only slowed by nagging injuries to other parts of his body.

Al Jefferson has had a frustrating career in that whenever he starts to get some momentum going, injuries have slowed him down. The centerpiece of the trade that sent Kevin Garnett to the Celtics, Jefferson blossomed in Minnesota and was looking like an All-Star when he tore his ACL 50 games into the 2008-09 season. His recovery went smoothly, and in the five years since he has shown year-over-year improvement to the point that last year he was named to the All-NBA Third Team, the first individual honor of his career.

Even one of Antonio McDyess’ major injuries would have been enough to knock most players out for their entire career. During his first six seasons in the league, his incredible athleticism made him a rising star and earned him an All-Star nod in 2000-01. However, he ruptured his patellar tendon early in the 2001 season and spent much of the next two years trying to get back on the floor, and after playing just 18 games for the Knicks was shipped two Phoenix in 2004. He signed with Detroit to start the 2004-05 season, and reinvented himself as a high-effort post player who was a key cog in the highly-successful Pistons and Spurs machines for the next seven years.